Handicraft for Girls Part 1

Handicraft for Girls.

by Idabelle McGlauflin.

CHAPTER I.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

The teacher's preparation for the lesson consists in doing each exercise before presenting the lesson to the cla.s.s. It will take some of your time to do so, but it will save hours of time and much worry in the end, and you will thus discover how best to present the difficult points of the lesson. A well finished piece gives to the child a complete mental picture of what she is undertaking, and acts as an inspiration; she will work quicker, easier, and better because of it. This impulse and a clear demonstration of the method of doing, will enable her to work far more independently of the teacher than would otherwise be possible, and will give more satisfactory results.

What are designated as "electives" in this book are designed to meet the needs of cla.s.ses or individuals doing the work a second time or of teachers who find the regular work too difficult.

Large cla.s.ses can be handled with less wasted energy by dividing the cla.s.s into groups that are doing the same work. This saves endless repet.i.tion and enables the teacher to give better general supervision.

This is the most vulnerable point in cla.s.s work. A teacher may work laboriously and still waste her own and the children's time by too close an adherence to the individual method of instruction. Those children whose turn comes toward the end of the line will have lost much of the value of the lesson. Children require constant supervision. It is not teaching to examine the work when finished and order it ripped out. The fault is then with the teacher and not with the child. Each successive step should be inspected and corrected before the next one is taken. I would go still farther and have every pupil, even in the advanced grades, submit a sample of her work on every st.i.tch to be used in each exercise. Children are always eager to begin a new piece, and if required to practice until the result is satisfactory will very soon do good work. You then have this to refer to and can hold them to their best.

There is absolutely no value in poor, careless, puttering work. Unless the child has a high ideal and strives to reach it, the time of the lesson is wasted. Encourage self-criticism. Work should be done to one's own satisfaction whether it is to be seen by others or not.

Do not allow pupils to take their work home unless it is some required practice work. It is not the object to cover a certain amount of ground, but to inculcate high standards of excellence and some technical skill.

They cannot accomplish this by themselves. I would prefer that cla.s.ses do not complete the entire course rather than have good work sacrificed to quant.i.ty. There is a difference between careful, painstaking effort, and the puttering away of valuable time.

Avoid delay in distributing supplies.

Be sure that every member of the cla.s.s understands clearly the object of the lesson.

Do not encourage waste by a too liberal supply of material.

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the careful preparation of the cloth to be used. Trim all edges neatly before hemming, facing, gathering, etc. _Do not allow children to sew without basting._ The time required for careful basting is well spent.

It is not expected that the various pupils of the cla.s.s will advance with the same degree of proficiency. Some will require a much longer time on an exercise than others. As it is greatly to the advantage of the cla.s.s in the end, and saves time and tiresome repet.i.tion to give each new exercise or st.i.tch as a cla.s.s lesson, the average pupils should regulate the time for taking up new work. A teacher of resources will find ways and means of bringing up the work of slow pupils, and profitable 'busy work' for those who work more rapidly. For the former, a little extra time each day--not as a punishment, but as an opportunity to catch up--would be all that is necessary. For the latter, there is a great variety of interesting, useful work.

It is a pedagogic truism that every teacher, consciously or unconsciously, imparts to her cla.s.s her own inclinations. An enthusiastic cla.s.s indicates an ardent interest on the part of the teacher, and a distaste for work and a lack of zeal on the part of the pupils are equally indicative of the teacher's att.i.tude. Bear in mind that an unprepared teacher or a poorly presented lesson can make almost any exercise difficult and distasteful to the cla.s.s. Do not blame pupils for poor work for which you are yourself responsible.

SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PUPILS OF SEWING CLa.s.sES.

1. Be sure that the hands are clean.

2. Always sit erect--well back in the seat--with the light coming over the left shoulder, both feet upon the floor, because the body will not become as tired, the hand will not shade the work and it is easier to see the st.i.tches. Do not fasten the work to the knee, because a stooping position easily becomes a habit.

3. Place the thimble upon the second finger of the right hand. Either the side or end of the thimble can be used. Never sew without one.

4. Measure the thread either from shoulder to shoulder or from the end of the finger to the elbow. A long thread becomes soiled and worn before being used up and is more liable to knot.

5. Wind the thread once around the forefinger and break from the spool, because the broken thread twists more easily to a point than when cut.

Cut the thread from the work when finished to avoid drawing the st.i.tches or breaking at the wrong place.

6. Thread the needle from the end that hangs from the spool. In this way you are working with the twist of the thread and there is less danger of knotting and kinking.

7. Do not wet the thread in the mouth. Roll the end of the thread between the thumb and forefinger and place through the eye of the needle.

8. To tie a knot wind the thread around the forefinger once and a little over, and twist by rubbing the finger down the side of the thumb. With the nail of the second finger bring the knot thus formed to the end of the thread.

9. Hold the unfinished work in the left hand.

10. Do not bite the threads.

11. Trim the selvedge, as it is hard to sew through and draws up when washed.

12. The knot is always buried except in the basting which is to be removed.

DRILLS FOR BEGINNERS.

DRILL 1. Threading the needle with cotton. Needle No. 8; colored thread.

a. Prepare the cotton by twisting between thumb and forefinger.

b. Place the thread in the eye of the needle.

c. Draw the thread through with the right hand.

DRILL 2. Making the knot.

a. Hold the needle in the right hand and the end of the thread in the left.

b. Wind the thread around the forefinger once and a little over, and twist the threads together by rubbing the finger down the side of the thumb. Do not accept careless knots.

DRILL 3. Use of the thimble.

a. Push the needle with the thimble.

b. Push the needle back with the finger of the left hand.

_Never allow a pupil to sew without a thimble._

DRILL 4. Threading the yarn needle.

a. Prepare the yarn by loosening the end with the needle.

b. Place the yarn over the point of the needle and draw into a smooth loop.

c. Draw the needle out and thread into the loop.